The Prestige Review
by Tim Voon (winklebeck AT hotmail DOT com)November 18th, 2006
The Prestige (2006)
A film review by Timothy Voon
Copyright 2006 Timothy Voon
3.5 out of 5 stars
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, David Bowie
Director: Christopher Nolan
This is a story about the secret lives of magicians. 'The Prestige' weaves a web of suspense leaving a trail of magic tricks that keep you guessing until the final act. With every magic trick there are 3 parts.
'The Pledge'. The Magician shows you something ordinary, but it probably isn't.
'The Turn' The Magician makes the ordinary object, do something extraordinary.
'The Prestige'. This is the most difficult and dangerous part of the trick, the surprise when you see something that you have not ever seen before.
In this movie we are introduced to two magicians Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale). They begin their careers as amateur tricksters, working together in the same magic show at the turn of the century. Both are talented in their own right but take very different paths to becoming famous. It is their obsession for the best magic trick that makes them both take risks that will make them great but at great personal cost. It is the trick of the 'The Transported Man' which will be their greatest achievement of all. Unfortunately, Robert and Alfred who were once friends, become bitter rivals, as 'The Turn', goes wrong in a magic act resulting in the death of Robert's wife. From this moment on hate spirals out of control and each tries to destroy the other professionally and personally.
This movie is so much more than just a movie about magic tricks. At the end of the day the trick becomes secondary to the motives of why they were performed. I was fascinated by the obsession of these characters and the intensity and lengths each would go to become the greatest. Jackman and Bale are ideal for the roles of these two competitors. Jackman brings an inner darkness into his character of Angier, which is reminiscent of Faust's pact with the devil - in this case money can buy him the ultimate trick which will satisfy his revenge. Bale is reminiscent of a brooding 'Batman' in certain scenes, whose natural instinct, hard work and staunch commitment to his trade pays off in the end.
However, it wasn't Alfred or Robert which impressed me the most. Both sacrificed and lost much in the process and were on par in my opinion. 'The Magician' who impressed me the most was in fact Nikolas Tesla (David Bowie), whose mesmerizing performance left me intrigued. David Bowie does give a stand out performance in this movie, and part of this reason maybe the fact that one cannot recognize the singer/performer behind his portrayal of Tesla. At one point in the film, I was hoping that they would actually show us more of this inventor and his incredible engineering experiments with electricity. Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansson both give good performances in the supporting roles.
'The Prestige' is a movie that one should see again at a later date, after you've had time to digest its contents. Christopher Nolan has scrambled the events of this movie like a jigsaw puzzle and as an audience we are meant to put the pieces back together again. Some people may find this annoying, but on two levels I enjoyed trying to figure out the trick behind the 'The Transported Man', and then figuring out why the movie begins and ends as it does.
Timothy Voon
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